Just Another Plateau and Weigh-In Thread
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mburgess458 wrote: »
I think the popularity of this thread has hit a plateau...possibly even popularity starvation mode. The OP should increase his posting to shock the website and get the thread popularity moving again.
ROFL
I am sort of new here and still learning "the truth", but the sarcasm with which you all comment reassures me that those scary things must all be fake... 
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This should be sticky!
Thank you for taking the time to post!!
Truly a good read!
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sunandmoons wrote: »This should be sticky!
Thank you for taking the time to post!!
Truly a good read!
Good news! It is one of the stickies already.
If you haven't looked at them in a while, they added some new things when they rebuilt the lists a month or two ago. You should check them out. There's good stuff in those threads.1 -
It may be irritating to see the same question come up again and again, but sometimes people just need a little support and reassurance. When you are just starting out and you see the exact same number on the scale every day for 14 days, it can be incredibly frustrating. Sometimes you can be doing everything right and nothing is happening, and yes, weight loss is not linear,band over time if you stick at it things will only trend down, but try to empathise with the person just starting out who has been the same weight for 2/3 of their time tracking and is thinking 'what's the point?'. They might just need some kind words rather than be made to feel stupid and irritating.11
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Well said. If making people feel stupid was an effective way to motivate them and support them through difficult transitions, then I'd say "have at it". But it doesn't. Helping them develop effective strategies, tools and techniques, and providing moral support and encouragement, is always a better option.It may be irritating to see the same question come up again and again, but sometimes people just need a little support and reassurance. When you are just starting out and you see the exact same number on the scale every day for 14 days, it can be incredibly frustrating. Sometimes you can be doing everything right and nothing is happening, and yes, weight loss is not linear,band over time if you stick at it things will only trend down, but try to empathise with the person just starting out who has been the same weight for 2/3 of their time tracking and is thinking 'what's the point?'. They might just need some kind words rather than be made to feel stupid and irritating.
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rankinsect wrote: »OsricTheKnight wrote: »You find it patronizing because you believe an impossibility. If you really upped your intake by 200 kcals, you would not suddenly lose weight because of it.
It's possible to boost calories and see increased weight loss (there is an important distinction between weight loss and fat loss). In fact it was seen in Ancel Keys' starvation research, which was carefully controlled. Fat was burned at a more or less constant rate, but for reasons still not really understood, fat cells can retain water as they lose their triglycerides, maintaining their weight in spite of a loss of fats, until something triggers an efflux of water out of the cells, causing shrinkage and rapid weight loss. Some data suggests a caloric increase can trigger this efflux. Some people experience this, others don't.
This tallies with my experience of plateaus of 4-6 weeks and a sudden drop onto target. I read about it on Lyle MacDonalds website. He believes in plateaus, and calls it the Woosh effect. The fat cells replace with water, masking the weight loss, and then suddenly release, (I've had it happen after a heavy night of drinking). Martin Berkham also supports this theory.
I often wonder if fat cells do the same on the way up, it's like the body chemistry is waiting to see if the under or over eating situation is temporary or longer term before it starts making serious changes.
The plateau is real folks.......2 -
boom !0
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Great post. Thankyou. Have just started tracking its keeping me motivated! !1
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macgurlnet wrote: »I'm gonna be serious for a sec and say this is exactly why I weigh daily - because I like the data points)))
Such a pity there's no search function here so new people could easily find this information....
~Lyssa
^^ this0 -
This was a great post and really helps me put my continual roller coaster ride into perspective. Although it does seem to move downwards, albeit very slowly, the constant up and down gets frustrating when you know you have not had any cheat meals or missed your exercise for the day. The one thing I will add is that obviously if you have a lot of weight to lose the first 4-6 months will go by rather smoothly losing a steady 1-2 lbs. a week but then those last 15-20 lbs seems to take 3 times as long to go. It has taken me 3 weeks to lose the 2 lbs I normally lost on average weekly. Maybe that's what people are referring to when they say you've hit a plateau?1
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Hasn't been bumped in a while. Still useful.
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Thanks so much for all the snarkage, I believe I have got my daily quota in. I came in to this thread because I have been on a plateau. As far as I can tell, I have entered data accurately. So what do I do next? Is it advisable to lower my calorie target so I don't get that terrible warning about not eating enough calories? I lost 2 lbs in 2 weeks, and nothing the past 2 weeks. I am no expert and opened this thread hoping for help, not sarcasm. I am surprised this was on the list of "helpful" threads. It's great to say that "plateaus don't exist, overeating does" but what if I am following my recommended caloric intake and logging faithfully? And exercising? And not losing weight? The plateau is real for me and I need to find out what I can do to get off it without starving myself and shutting down my already-sluggish metabolism.3
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MeredithDeVoe1 wrote: »Thanks so much for all the snarkage, I believe I have got my daily quota in. I came in to this thread because I have been on a plateau. As far as I can tell, I have entered data accurately. So what do I do next? Is it advisable to lower my calorie target so I don't get that terrible warning about not eating enough calories? I lost 2 lbs in 2 weeks, and nothing the past 2 weeks. I am no expert and opened this thread hoping for help, not sarcasm. I am surprised this was on the list of "helpful" threads. It's great to say that "plateaus don't exist, overeating does" but what if I am following my recommended caloric intake and logging faithfully? And exercising? And not losing weight? The plateau is real for me and I need to find out what I can do to get off it without starving myself and shutting down my already-sluggish metabolism.
@MeredithDeVoe1 Hey, that's an average of .5 lb per week, so that's not bad! A loss is a loss. Though it is hard to help you without knowing much about you. What is your heigh/weight/age? Do you exercise? How do you measure calorie burns? Do you eat all of those calories back? Do you use a food scale, or do you eye-ball?
And please don't misinterpret light-hearted humor as snark.
Here is a great infographic to start with:
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Thanks for the usable information, Alyssa! I had to look up PCOS. Here's the deal with me. I am 54, 5'6, 168 lbs. Overweight but not obese. I do exercise, but not a ton-- I try to get in 3 20-30 minute workouts, steady state or HIIT, a week. I do 10-15 minutes yoga daily (to help with chronic pain). I gained a lot of weight during menopause and was 183 at my heaviest, non-pregnant weight. A good weight for me is about 140. I am on my feet teaching all day.
I was on HRT for 5 years but stopped this summer in an attempt to have less migraines, which have increased tenfold this year. Yes, I need to see a doctor but living in Nigeria there is really only emergency care. For "real" exams and stuff, I wait till we are in the States. I will be there this late spring for a few months, and I will ask about PCOS because my hormones really can go nutty even 5 years after menopause. I am NOT currently on any regular medications.
I don't have a digital food scale, and it would surprise me to find a decent one for sale in this country. I guess that will be on my American shopping list! I use measuring cups and spoons as much as possible, or food portion size guides (such as 3 oz. of meat= deck of cards). For calorie burn, I trust MFP; I don't know what else to do.
Thanks for your interest. Today I went to my "Goals" on MFP and changed it to 1.5 lbs/week, 1200 cal/day. It may not be realistic for me, but I am willing to try for a few days and see if it doesn't help.4 -
MeredithDeVoe1 wrote: »I don't have a digital food scale, and it would surprise me to find a decent one for sale in this country. I guess that will be on my American shopping list! I use measuring cups and spoons as much as possible, or food portion size guides (such as 3 oz. of meat= deck of cards). For calorie burn, I trust MFP; I don't know what else to do.
These may be the biggest hindrances to you. Your ideal weight is around 107.8 lbs - 145.6 lbs. You want to lose around 30 lbs to be "ideal" to yourself. This right here may be your issue. You don't really have that much to lose. You could easily go weeks (more than 2) without losing and then suddenly see a loss. Water retention is a *kitten* sometimes. Right now you are averaging around .5 lbs loss a week. That's excellent. With less than 30 lbs to lose that is a solid goal. However, not being able to properly measure your food means you could very easily be eating more than you think. Using cups and spoons is good when cooking, not so much when eating. It doesn't reflect accurately at all. One tablespoon of peanut butter is going to be much different than the recommended serving in grams. The next time your back in the States make sure you pick one up. You can easily order one on Amazon for under $15 or even at most large stores.
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Thank you, jprewitt. I also lowered my calorie goal to 1200/day to see if I can get over that cliff (lol) and lose something. But it may not be realistic for me. Yesterday was fine, today is ok, tomorrow at work... we'll see how it goes!
Btw, anything under 130 and I begin to look skeletal, which is not the look I am going for! 0 -
MeredithDeVoe1 wrote: »Thank you, jprewitt. I also lowered my calorie goal to 1200/day to see if I can get over that cliff (lol) and lose something. But it may not be realistic for me. Yesterday was fine, today is ok, tomorrow at work... we'll see how it goes!
Btw, anything under 130 and I begin to look skeletal, which is not the look I am going for!
What was your calorie goal before? Lowering your goal isn't necessarily the answer. The rate of loss you are seeing, 0.5 lbs /week is just about right, for the amount you have to lose. When people aren't losing or aren't losing as fast as they would like, the answer is almost always to tighten up logging. You said you don't have a food scale and don't think they would be available near you, can you order one from Amazon as you mentioned? Apart from that, I think adjusting expectations may also be helpful. Weight loss is not linear (that's what this thread is all about!) and it is normal to have wooshes and stalls, especially for women.1 -
There is no reason to be scared of data points, which is all that daily weigh in numbers are. Learning and understanding the FACTS and math of how weight fluctuates can help you "freak out" less, not more.
In OP graph, someone who weighed only on 3/1, 3/9, and 3/30 would think they hadn't lost any weight.0 -
doylejohnpaul787 wrote: »I only started using MFP 3 weeks ago, so what I am seeing may just be the initial phase. This is what my graph looks like so far:
My weight loss up to now is surprisingly linear.
I set my goals using the calculator when I joined and said I wanted to lose 1 kg/week. I was surprised when I started losing 2 kg a week. If it continues like this, I am going to hit my goal weight by the end of the month. I have thought about reducing the deficit, but then I keep expecting it to slow down to the predicted 1 kg/week anyway. If it doesn't slow down before I hit 81 kg, I'm going to re-evaluate my goals and reduce the deficit.
Note: the daily weighing only started on April 20 when I bought a new, more accurate scales.
Did you start exercising when you started the diet?
I think weight might be more linear if your body is not adjusting to new exercise.1 -
MeredithDeVoe1 wrote: »Thank you, jprewitt. I also lowered my calorie goal to 1200/day to see if I can get over that cliff (lol) and lose something. But it may not be realistic for me. Yesterday was fine, today is ok, tomorrow at work... we'll see how it goes!
Btw, anything under 130 and I begin to look skeletal, which is not the look I am going for!
I lost a lot at the beginning and then it slowed down, like for you. The second week I weighed the same until the last day, when I suddenly lost .6 kg overnight. Who knows what's going on!?
I would NOT trust MFP for exercise calories - it may be over-estimating. I know that I need to put a lot of effort in to burn 300 calories in half an hour, but MFP thinks I can burn 450 calorie doing 30 mins of kick boxing. This is way too much - I change it to 200.1 -
Suddenly I lost 2 lbs. Yayyyyyy!! Although I am doing my best with logging, it will never be a perfect science, I'm sure. Right now my plan is to stay at 1200 cal/day for a few more days,then go back to the pound per week target (which was in the neighborhood of 1400). I really want my loss to be sustainable.
Amazon does deliver here but it costs an arm and a leg.1 -
For those who don't believe in a plateau, do some research. It happens. Just because you don't plateau doesn't mean the rest of the world doesn't. I've had doctors say it's normal. I've had weight stuck for weeks. I did learn to switch up my routine. Some bodies get stuck eating the same foods or doing the same workout routines week after week. I fasted for a blood test and it was 12 hours and I hadn't done that in ages and the scale went down 3 lbs the next day. No two bodies are the same. The oddest things can move a scale where other things don't. I've learned to mix up workouts with short, medium and long exercise. Don't let your body get used to the same old, same old. Change menu if you eat the same stuff for days on end. She also said I didn't eat enough calories even though MFP said 1200 for me, she thought that was pretty low. I went to a health and wellness clinic and they said 1200 was too low for dieting. Increased and lost some weight. Switch it up and see what happens. May work for you.
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This is an excellent post. I'm not going to lie, I'm one of those people whose entire mood is dictated by my daily weigh ins. Looking at the weight loss journey in a big picture, over time, is really helpful. I'm going to send it to a few people I know who feel the same frustrations I do when the scale goes up .5 lbs one day over the next. Good God, I feel foolish. Your post really helped. THANK YOU!0
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I love all the graphs! All this time I thought I was the only geek who tracked my weight daily with trendlines and averages. I also compare to calorie goal and exercise calories burned. It helps me to understand cause and effect and keep me motivated. It's a good point, it can get very discouraging if you don't weigh enough and it looks like you are not making progress.0
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MNFitnessGal wrote: »For those who don't believe in a plateau, do some research. It happens. Just because you don't plateau doesn't mean the rest of the world doesn't. I've had doctors say it's normal. I've had weight stuck for weeks. I did learn to switch up my routine. Some bodies get stuck eating the same foods or doing the same workout routines week after week. I fasted for a blood test and it was 12 hours and I hadn't done that in ages and the scale went down 3 lbs the next day. No two bodies are the same. The oddest things can move a scale where other things don't. I've learned to mix up workouts with short, medium and long exercise. Don't let your body get used to the same old, same old. Change menu if you eat the same stuff for days on end. She also said I didn't eat enough calories even though MFP said 1200 for me, she thought that was pretty low. I went to a health and wellness clinic and they said 1200 was too low for dieting. Increased and lost some weight. Switch it up and see what happens. May work for you.
Thank you!
Best post!0 -
Just one question, the OP mentioned detoxing, why? The human body does this miraculously well without any help.
Nevertheless, it was a good and helpful post.1 -
I just posted this in another thread, but I think it's worth putting here too:
I think MFP at large has a habit of developing some blinkered views. Things get said enough times, taken out of context and abbreviated, and people parrot a single line without actually really understanding. 'If you were eating at a deficit you'd be losing weight' is a classic example. What it should be is 'if you are eating at a deficit (and you've verified logging etc is on point), you should be losing fat, however that fat loss may be masked by unholy amounts of water weight from jacked up cortisol, and if you've been at a deficit for any amount of time you'll have some adaptive thermogenesis going on that will also impact your rate of fat loss'.
This is the nuance of plateaus/stalls that gets missed: fat loss hasn't stopped, but it can sure as hell be masked by water weight for a long-*kitten* time. In one of Lyle McDonald's recent podcasts he did a calculation that a woman could easily not see a scale loss for 10 weeks between hormonal weight fluctuations and cortisol-induced retention. So, plateau as in scale weight staying the same for weeks on end is real, plateau as in no fat loss for weeks on end (assuming actually at a deficit), not so much.
A little bit of knowledge can be a dangerous thing...9 -
Nony_Mouse wrote: »I just posted this in another thread, but I think it's worth putting here too:
I think MFP at large has a habit of developing some blinkered views. Things get said enough times, taken out of context and abbreviated, and people parrot a single line without actually really understanding. 'If you were eating at a deficit you'd be losing weight' is a classic example. What it should be is 'if you are eating at a deficit (and you've verified logging etc is on point), you should be losing fat, however that fat loss may be masked by unholy amounts of water weight from jacked up cortisol, and if you've been at a deficit for any amount of time you'll have some adaptive thermogenesis going on that will also impact your rate of fat loss'.
This is the nuance of plateaus/stalls that gets missed: fat loss hasn't stopped, but it can sure as hell be masked by water weight for a long-*kitten* time. In one of Lyle McDonald's recent podcasts he did a calculation that a woman could easily not see a scale loss for 10 weeks between hormonal weight fluctuations and cortisol-induced retention. So, plateau as in scale weight staying the same for weeks on end is real, plateau as in no fat loss for weeks on end (assuming actually at a deficit), not so much.
A little bit of knowledge can be a dangerous thing...
Thank you for posting this.0 -
Thanks for the great post, it actually inspired me to start weighting myself daily and also to look for an app that would give more info about my weight loss trends and stats. And I've found a great one, it's called Libra !
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